10-11 April. Madaba, Jordan

Border crossings are starting to become a major expense on this trip- $300 all up going into Syria with visas, diesel tax, carnets etc taken into consideration. And a further $200 getting in to Jordan yesterday. Not so bad if you’re spending a couple of weeks in each but we are doing a lot less than that.
The Jordanian side of the border were well organised, no need for ‘helpers’ and such.
We made it to Jerash in the dark last night. A town famed for its well preserved Roman ruins. Then on to Amman and Mabada, 40kms further south this morning. Madaba is a smaller town and a good central point to visit the different attractions around here. The St George Greek Orthodox Church has kindly allowed us to camp in their grounds for the night. It’s the map mosaic, originally 16mX6m, the draws the visitors to the church. Not much left now, but enough to make it a major attraction. I don’t think you have to be a believer to stay here but they did mention that at the tourist bureau.
I am enjoying driving in this country. Jordanians seem to be better drivers than I have experienced of late: more considerate and travel at a slower speed.
Our van is due for a service. We spent a frustrating 4 hours driving around Amman looking for the VW crowd. I was waiting until we got to Cairo but we are going to be busy getting our Sudan visa there. Having it done here, when we have a couple of spare days up our sleeve, will ease the pressure in Egypt. I wanted to wait until we reached this area as with servicing due every 15,000kms it would’ve meant it was going to be well overdue before we reached the next country that sells VWs which is Sth Africa.
I am able to do my own blog postings once more. The censorship was unexpected and a bit frustrating. At least I know what I can do to get around the problem though Adam did have trouble getting the images uploaded.
11th April.
Jordan is quite an amazing country. The barren scenery is quite breathtaking. It was a day of sightseeing. Firstly Mt Nebo where Moses saw the Promised Land then died at the ripe old age of 120, then on to the Dead Sea as you all will know is 400 metres below sea level. We travelled along it for 60 odd kilometres then climbed inland to Karak where another of the Crusader castles stands. Was funny to read that although the Muslims and the Christians were at war in the time of the Crusades, the two sides were still trading with each other. Bit like England selling coal to Germany during the war and at the same time bombing the shit out of them.
From Karak we travelled south along the Kings Highway to the Dana Wildlife Refuge where we are camped. The panorama below us is spectacular with barren rugged cliffs smoothly falling thousands of feet to the Dead Sea Valley.